Article
--- Matti Heimonen，Consul General of Finland in Shanghai
More than 230 countries and international organizations have confirmed participation in the 2010 Shanghai Expo. Included in that list.. around 40 countries and organizations have plans to design and build their own pavilions by the end of this year. Today we are taking a closer look at the Finnish pavilion. As a veritable laboratory for sustainable construction, the Finish pavilion, called Kirnu, showcases Finland’s solutions for future sustainable urban construction. What inspirations can the Finnish Pavilion ignite? What role will“sustainable construction”play in the future?
Guest intro
Matti Heimonen is Consul General of Finland in Shanghai. He has been working for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Finland for more than 20 years.. holding related positions in China, Japan, Germany, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia.
PART I Finland Pavilion and sustainable construction
A: Hello to the Main Talk, I am your host, Amy Routledge. Joining our program today is Mr. Heimonen, the Consul General of Finland in Shanghai. Thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate it.
M: Thank you for the invitation.
A: The Finnish Pavilion at the Expo is called“kirnu”. Is that correct?
M: Right, a little bit.
A: We have the model of the Finnish pavilion here, talk to us about why it is shaped this way，and its relation with the kettle and everything you can tell us about it.
M: Thank you. First of all, you can see the scale of the pavilion…how huge it will be these small people over there.
A: Yeah.
M: And here is the entrance to the pavilion and inside the pavilion, there is a hole, and as you can see, it is not symmetric. The form comes from the nature, and it is a totally asymmetrical format. Inside the pavilion, this hole, this actually the idea of“kirnu”, this giant kettle, open, and it will be open and also able to cover if needed somehow. But the most important thing is that people can see the open air from inside.
A: And this is all covered?
M: This is all covered, and the actual exhibition is around this“kirnu”, this forum. And it will be covered well, isolated very well. This area, this exhibition itself is cool also in the summer. And thinking about this wide surface, it is from this innovative wood composite as I said to you. So it is covered but there are also windows. You cannot see because it is much smaller, but there are also open which gives light, outside light. The water is here around, there is a bridge to the entrance and then you go inside.
A: Okay.
M: And it actually starts its exhibition tour from here and then it would be also coming down. On the ground floor there will be cafeteria, shops and things like this and in between, 10 meter high exhibition hall where you can go, it is quite high and it is quite interesting that, for after use, you can modify it, you can put floors in order to make this pavilion as offices.
A: Oh! Good idea.
M: but one interesting secret that I might unveil now is that, in the other Finnish buildings in the world, around the world, there is also sauna.
A: Oh really?
M: Yes. I am pretty sure that, if this secret will not be distributed widely, this will be the only pavilion to have its own.
A: Wow! Now why is that?
M: Well sauna is part of Finnish culture, very strong part in this culture, and then we think that we cannot have a pavilion without sauna. Of course, thinking about 20 000 visitors per day, it might be difficult to offer sauna bath for everybody!
A: Yeah!
M: Maybe we can organize some kind of lottery so some people can…In any case, they could know that there is a sauna, and this is such a strong part of Finnish culture. So there has to be a sauna as well.
A: That’s very interesting. Why is it such a strong part of the Finnish culture?
M: Well, you know, in Finland, there are 2 millions saunas, you think about five and half million people. So every family has its own sauna, most maybe two saunas, one in the city and one in the countryside.
A: Okay.
M: So you can think. And the people used to be born in a sauna.
A: Really?
M: and now from the beginning, every time I used to go in a sauna, weekly in the summer time even daily.
A: Interesting. And you know someone argued that Shanghai, in the summer, is a sauna.
M: Yes, but it gives a good feeling because it is something different.
A: Yeah, it is very interesting. How many people will you be able to fit in there?
M: Well, it is not too big because it is not meant for everybody. But it is a showcase and it is a more symbolic thing that we would like to have there and of course, for some people, as I can say it, may be lucky people to win a lottery or something they can try!
A: And it is interesting also because China traditional medicine kind of is similar to the health using nature, to help heal things. It would be very popular, what do you think?
M: Yes, exactly this is the idea. The idea of sauna is of course related to health. But, mainly because of the relaxing effect, it is relaxing and up to now no harmful effects have been found if you are a healthy person. You can go without any problems.
A: And in a city like Shanghai, there are a lot of people who probably need to relax.
M: Exactly! Yeah, that’s true! And we hope that also this kind of relaxing culture will be well received.
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